Celebs who have influenced your life

IrishEyes said:
I have always loved poetry and leaned towards songs that told a vivid story.
So when I heard Harry Chapin, I was hooked. He was such a humble man on his
ways to make the world a better place. His songs reflected people and situations
of life that touched so many around me. To me, he was the unsung hero.

Harry Forster Chapin (/ˈtʃeɪpɪn/; December 7, 1942 – July 16, 1981) was an American singer-songwriter, philanthropist, and hunger activist best known for his folk rock and pop rock songs. He achieved worldwide success in the 1970s. Chapin, a Grammy Award-winning artist and Grammy Hall of Fame inductee, has sold over 16 million records worldwide.

Chapin recorded a total of 11 albums from 1972 until his death in 1981. All 14 singles that he released became hits on at least one national music chart. Chapin's best-known songs include "Taxi" and "Cat's in the Cradle."

As a dedicated humanitarian, Chapin fought to end world hunger. He was a key participant in the creation of the Presidential Commission on World Hunger in 1977.[1][2] In 1987, Chapin was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his humanitarian work.[3]
This is a lesser known song but one that will be forever in my mind:

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Oh my gosh! I read the title of this thread and thought to myself, I can add to that one... the celeb who influenced me the most was Harry Chapin. Then I read your post!!!

I had the honor of meeting Harry - I was dating a Los Angeles disc jockey and WOLD was a hit. A group from the station saw him at The Troubadour, then spent a couple of hours sitting around talking in the apartment of one of the DJ's.

I saw Harry in concert every time he came around and was devastated when he died. A great musician and a stellar human being.

I've told my family that when I die, I want "Circle" played at the memorial.
 
IrishEyes said:
Someone who is in the public eye or publicly known will do. Influenced can mean which ever way you choose, positive or negative. I really didn't have a set of rules for the answer. I went with positive myself because Chapin opened my mind and thoughts at a young age about things I wasn't thinking about back then, in that it made me look at things differently than I had at that time. I maybe would have opened up later to these things but sometimes a personality just speaks to you.
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Thank you for responding. i tend to be nitpicky about words, language--these days so many people are careless with their words. And it was clear from some of the responses that people were taking it different ways.

For myself, while many different pieces of music in various genres have been emotionally moving, consoling--influencing my life even slightly for good or bad was generally by 'public figures' in various walks of life: Activists, Authors/poets, journalists, even a politician or two.

But because of some foundations in self-awareness and reasoning my Dad gave me-- there have been few if any people i 'idolized', including my Dad tho he probably had the most profound influence on me, by impacting how i analyse information and helping me be able to consciously compartmentalize: So that i am able to take what lessons i see as useful, inspiring from people i observe, whether family or public figures, while still being aware of and maybe even not approving of some aspect of them as a person--bad habits, how they treat others.

Frankly, i just don't see public figures of any kind as demographic that can be stereotyped as some commenters on this thread have. Course i don't think any demographic group should be stereotyped (in negative or positive ways--but the damage positive stereotypes can do is a whole other topic). But then i often have a tangential (oddball) take on things.
 

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feywon said:
Thank you for responding. i tend to be nitpicky about words, language--these days so many people are careless with their words. And it was clear from some of the responses that people were taking it different ways.

For myself, while many different pieces of music in various genres have been emotionally moving, consoling--influencing my life even slightly for good or bad was generally by 'public figures' in various walks of life: Activists, Authors/poets, journalists, even a politician or two.

But because of some foundations in self-awareness and reasoning my Dad gave me-- there have been few if any people i 'idolized', including my Dad tho he probably had the most profound influence on me, by impacting how i analyse information and helping me be able to consciously compartmentalize: So that i am able to take what lessons i see as useful, inspiring from people i observe, whether family or public figures, while still being aware of and maybe even not approving of some aspect of them as a person--bad habits, how they treat others.

Frankly, i just don't see public figures of any kind as demographic that can be stereotyped as some commenters on this thread have. Course i don't think any demographic group should be stereotyped (in negative or positive ways--but the damage positive stereotypes can do is a whole other topic). But then i often have a tangential (oddball) take on things.
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How interesting and educational would a village be if everyone was the same in all things? ☮️
 
IrishEyes said:
How interesting and educational would a village be if everyone was the same in all things? ☮️
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My feeling as well, no matter what demographic we belong to we are all human and individuals learning about differences in tastes, culture etc can be very interesting. Knowing many diverse kinds of people over the course of my life has greatly enriched my life.
 
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